Summer and Lightning
by Kiara-Zzyopen
Summary: BtVSHP. The long overdue sequal to 'The Witches Watcher'. As soon as one war stops, another begins...
1. Default Chapter

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing apart from the cool spotty shoes I just brought!

**A/N:** This is the sequel/ spin-off to 'The Witches Watcher'. Although it is not strictly necessary, I recommend you read that first (and if you haven't already read it, I promise it gets better after the first few chapters, it's actually kind of readable towards the end!).

**A/N the Second**: For the purposes of this story, the Angel finale HASN'T HAPPENED and Fred still exists as Fred. I'm not entirely sure where this makes it on the timeline as I sorta went AU in Witches Watcher.

**The Story So Far: **After the battle with the First, Dawn is able to access the power of the key i.e. she's a witch. She becomes a watcher for six witch-slayers, including Ginny Weasly and Luna Lovegood, and starts school at Hogwarts. She starts dating Harry Potter and trying to help in the fight against Voldemort. The Scoobies come to Hogwarts and discover a prophecy- either Dawn or Harry will die in the fight against Voldemort. All the slayers, the order and D & H go into a final battle with Lord V. with a plan; Willow will do a spell to steal the magic from the death eaters. The spell goes ahead successfully, but Willow is overloaded with Dark Magic and has a 'mental battle' with Tara as her guide. She wins and is rid of her darkness once and for all and is rewarded by becoming a higher being (but in her dimension). Meanwhile Dawn dies fighting Voldemort, but she comes back to life (yay). Harry defeats Voldemort and much partying ensues. Now, on with the story!

**PROLOGUE: SUMMER AND LIGHTNING**

Commercial, commercial, news, commercial, Italian chat show, commercial, commercial, commercial.

Dawn Summers switched off the television and groaned in frustration. There was never anything on! When Buffy had suggested they travel together over the summer holidays, Dawn had jumped at the opportunity, but one month and six countries later she could freely admit that she was bored.

First it was Cleveland. That had been okay, at least everyone there spoke English and there was an okay shopping centre there. Then it was Australia and that had been great! After the freezing cold in England the Californian girl had welcomed the sun and sea of Sydney. It went downhill from there. Three towns in the back and beyond of Germany; Turkey and Kenya and then Andrew's apartment in Italy. Oh joy. Oh bliss.

Buffy had practically ignored her all holiday. She was doing 'official slayer duties' and dating some guy called 'the immortal'. Angel and Spike had not been happy to hear about that. Not happy at all.

The door to Andrew apartment burst open. "Ciao belle!"

"Hey Andrew."

"We'll be in my room, kay? Don't disturb us."

The former geek led a slightly confused looking blond into his room and the door slammed behind them. Dawn shook her head, once more revelling in Andrew's transformation from nerd to Italian love god.

The door opened yet again to reveal one Buffy Summers returning with her dinner date with 'Immy'.

"Hey Dawnie; good evening?" She deposited a black silk scarf on one of the chairs and went over to the black sports bag that went wherever they did.

"Not bad. Are you going slaying? Can I come?"

"I don't know, Dawn." Buffy felt bad for her sister. This had really been a business trip and she'd had no-one to talk to or hang out with. "Alright, but stay behind me."

"Okay, okay!" Dawn rolled her eyes. It wasn't as if she'd never faced anything before, but Buffy was trying to limit her magic. It was quite sad to say that 'The Big Talk' in the Summers family was about avoiding getting hooked on magic and knowing when to run away from a fight.

Dawn picked out a sword that wouldn't have fit in the bag if it weren't for Willow's Mary Poppins spell and waved it about in front of her experimentally.

Buffy watched her test out the weapon. Slaying was obviously the highlight of Dawn's day; it took no genius to see that Dawn was bored stiff. She may be a watcher, but the politics of the job didn't interest her and this was supposed to be her holiday, both from school and watcher business. Seeing how Dawn was feeling about their supposed bonding trip, Buffy had finally admitted to herself what was happening and called Angel in LA.

"Dawn; how do you feel about going back to America…tomorrow?"

"We're going back?" Dawn asked excited.

"I'm not, but I can see you're so not loving this trip, no, you're not." Buffy stopped Dawn's protests. "Angel said he'd love to have you working for him at Wolfram and Hart."

"You're sending me back to _work_! At an _evil_ law firm!"

"We can't live off the Watchers' fund forever, Dawn, you've got to learn the value of a dollar!"

'Uh oh,' Dawn thought; 'Buffy's on the verge of a parenting lecture…again!'

"Aren't you coming back with me?" Dawn asked, slightly hurt, and effectively changing the subject away from one of Buffy's long and boring 'inspirational' speeches.

"I've still got things to do here, but I can phone and you can do that apperating thing and visit your friends where I can't see you and yell at you for using magic." Buffy said with a smile which Dawn returned. The younger girl really had been trying to not use magic around Buffy; she knew how worried she got, but that meant that Dawn had a shiny new apperating licence that hadn't been used yet.

"Thanks Buffy." The two sisters hugged and went out on patrol, but then they decided that as it was Dawn's last night they should celebrate and went for ice cream instead.

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Harry tossed and turned in his bed. Another birthday had been and gone but nothing had changed. His Uncle Vernon was snoring in the next room and it was nicely accompanied by Aunt Petunia's snuffling. He reached out for his wand, but stopped himself. Though he was legally old enough, several wizarding laws meant that he couldn't do wizardry on or around muggles. It wouldn't do to be expelled before his final year at Hogwarts had even started.

Dumbledore had insisted that Harry return to his Aunt and Uncle's house for one more summer. It hadn't been long since Voldemort was defeated and he still had followers that may want to take a pot shot at the boy who defeated him. The Wesley's had made an offer to take him in for the last few weeks of the summer, but he had declined. The family were still mourning the death of Bill who died in the final battle and he didn't want to intrude on their grief.

He turned over again, his thoughts going back to a certain brunette that he was happy to call his girlfriend. He wanted to see her, but the last he heard she was still travelling with Buffy. Hell; he wanted to see anyone. Hermione, Ron, even bloody Rita Skeeter would be a welcome change.

He'd heard from his friends via Hedwig that they had all got their apperating licences, but Harry still didn't have his yet due to the normal lessons at Hogwarts being stopped due to 'extenuating circumstances' i.e. Voldermort. He'd been slightly disappointed when no-one had visited him on his birthday; the presents and cards had come as usual, but none of his friends had bothered to apperate in to see him.

These thoughts had plagued him every night, but, like he had done before, Harry closed his eyes firmly and willed sleep to find him.

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The minute Dawn walked through her portal in Wolfram and Hart's lobby, she was yanked off her feet and into a firm hug by a platinum headed vampire.

"Hi Spike!" The vampire continued to cling onto the young girl. "Err, Spike? It's only been a month."

"Don't mind him- he's been a bit needy lately."

"Hey!" Spike put Dawn back on his feet and turned to his Grandsire. "You're not one to talk, Mr. tall, dark and broody!"

Now it was Angel looking annoyed. Dawn laughed and gave him a hug before asking where the others were.

"Well, Lorne's about somewhere and Gunn's in his office and um I don't really know where Wes and Fred are." Angel said uncomfortably and Dawn got the feeling that if vampires could blush then Angel would be doing just that. "Faith's travelling with Xander, but they're both going to visit soon."

Dawn perked up at that news- Xander was going to visit! "What about Willow? Buffy said she was staying in LA to find out more about her new powers?"

"She is, but we don't see her that much. I don't think she likes the offices that much." Angel cast a suspicious look at the walls as if he were expecting a demon to pop out at them any moment. "Buffy said that you were going to work here, is that okay with you?"

"I guess…will I get paid?"

Spike laughed. "You ask the right kind of questions Niblet!"

Angel ignored his childe's interruption. "Wolfram and Hart are very generous where money is concerned." He grinned and Dawn took in his appearance. While he was always pretty well dressed, now he was covered in the top designers blackest outfits. "We thought you could help out Wesley with the books… and stuff." He finished lamely.

"Sure." Dawn yawned widely. "Sorry, just the time difference makes it feel like…I dunno, late? Or possibly really, really early."

"Don't worry about it, I'll show-"

"Come on, Niblet, this way." Spike interrupted dragging Dawn down a marble floored corridor.

Dawn giggled; she's forgotten how funny Spike and Angel were together. It was certainly going to be an interesting two-and-a-half weeks!

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"Jade! Are you ready yet?" Felicity, or Flick, yelled up the stairs to her friend.

"Almost!" The slayer in question bellowed back.

Skylar rolled her eyes. They were going slaying, not anywhere special- it wasn't like the evil undead really cared what you were wearing…unless it was another demons intestines.

"You'd never guess that she was the one pushing us to go out tonight, would you?" Flick said, idly twisting her chosen sword between her finger tips.

Skye grinned in response. "It's always her; I'm surprised she lasted a week on holiday before calling you."

"I swear she got more of a hunters instinct than the rest of all the slayers in Europe put together."

"Pur-lease, you were just as juiced as I was when we moved in here." The topic of their conversation bounded down the stairs. "How do I look?"

"Great," Flick said without enthusiasm. "Can we go now?"

Jade shrugging on her jacket and picking up her crossbow propped up by the door. She looked over her shoulder to the other two slayers. "Well, aren't you coming?"

As Flick glared and followed her friends out the door, she found herself wishing that they meet a demon that night that would explode all over Jaden. Preferably one with bright green blood that permanently stained the outfit she'd spent the last hour choosing…

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"Err Wes, you do know that you've only got about five books in here right?" It was her first morning at Wolfram and Hart and Wes had set about putting her to work on an Ancient Sumerian prophecy.

He smirked and lifted one of the books to his lips. "Codex, volume three." He opened the book to show her a page that was now full of the ancient language.

"That is so frigging cool!"

Oh yeah. She was definitely a watcher. "Glad you think so. Are you sure you'll be okay translating that."

"Sure, hey Wes- what time would it be in England now?"

"About 1AM, why?"

"I just have to call Flick- they should be coming back from their patrol now, is it okay if-"

"You can use the office phone; I've got a meeting to go to anyway."

"Thanks." After he had gone, she dialled the number for the house all of 'her' slayers were staying in. It rang once…twice…

"Hello?" A distant voice crackled over the receiver.

"Hey Jade- it's Dawn. How's things?"

"Good, it's good to be back. I've been itching to slay something all summer."

All the slayers had gone back to their respective families for the summer holidays, but gradually they were feeling the need to get back to what they were made for- slaying.

"Look I've got to go. Skye got herself slashed tonight and we're patching her up."

"What? Is she okay?"

"She's fine- don't worry. It only happened because she's rusty. We'll call you later?"

"Okay- I'm staying at Wolfram and Hart. And be careful, really, really careful."

"We will, bye." Dawn could practically hear the younger girl rolling her eyes.

And she was gone. Dawn put down her receiver anxiously. She couldn't help but feel she should be back in England with her slayers instead of working as a researcher for a law firm whose reputation was shaky at best.

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"Was that Dawn?"

"Of course, if she worries so much then why doesn't she just come back instead of phoning every bloody night."

Flick grinned. "Cause we're supposed to be on holiday? She doesn't feel what you, me and Skye does- and Ginny."

"Ginny?"

"She sent an owl while we were out, I found it upstairs. She'll be joining us within the week."

"Cool. Do you think Luna and Emily will get restless too?" Jaden asked.

"How should I know? Maybe not. They haven't had it in their lives as long as we have; they can probably still live without it."

"Lucky them." Jaden grumbled. It was a bit of a sore point amongst the older slayers how they could not reject their calling, even for the six weeks holiday they were given. First Flick and Jade had suffered the sleepless nights and restlessness in their quiet home towns and decided to move into Jaden's father's business flat in central London where they could patrol. A few days later Skye had joined them and now it seemed Ginny was having the same problem.

"It's not so bad; it will be good seeing Gin again." Flick said trying to see the up side to your life being taken over by your most primal instincts.

"I suppose. You wanna get some comfort food?"

Flick grinned and nodded so the slayers headed for the kitchen cupboards chock full of junk food just in case of emergencies like these.

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Skylar lay in her bed staring at the ceiling. She'd been injured, again. She wasn't as good at all this as Flick and Jade and she knew it. She also knew that that was why slaying would kill her.

There was only so many times that a person could face death before it ceased to scare them and it seemed that she had finally accepted her fate- she would die, it wasn't a question of 'if' it was a question of 'when'. But she still didn't walk away. She couldn't.

The way she figured it, being a slayer was like an addiction, a really bad one. If you tried to quit you could either come off it slowly or quit cold turkey. And she didn't have the will power to do either- the calling was too great, the stakes to high. You can never go back, no matter how much you may want to.

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Ginny was having a more optimistic view on her life. Her blood had been buzzing for weeks and she'd finally figured out why- she'd been cooped up like a lion in one of those muggle zoos. At first her mother had refused, but eventually her daughter's pleads and wistful glances out every window she passed had gotten to her and she'd agreed for Ginny to stay with the other slayers. It also may have had something to do with the fact that she kept breaking the good china by gripping it too hard.

She was just closing her trunk when there was a knock on her door.

"Come in."

Molly Weasley poked her head around the door. "Ginny, love, I…you're all packed I see."

Ginny grinned excitedly. "Yup."

"You don't even leave for another five days- is it really that terrible here?" Her mother asked, hurt.

"No, of course not. I just need this, it's been too long."

"And now you can't even go three weeks without fighting or killing. Where did we go wrong?"

And there it was. The argument that they'd had constantly over the summer. Ginny fought to keep her temper under control.

"Mum, we're not going into this again." She said evenly.

"Going into what? I just want to know why you hate your father and I so much that you'd rather go… slaying than spend time with us."

"I save lives!" Ginny almost shouted. "Why don't you want me to help people?"

"You're being selfish! All we wanted was one summer, just six weeks out of the whole year when we could be a normal family."

"And why can't we? This is what I am, Mum- you'll just have to get used to it."

"It doesn't have to be this way, you could-"

"No. I don't want to change." Ginny sighed and sat down on her bed. "You think I wanted all this? I wanted to be a normal witch, just going to Hogwarts and getting good grades. But it was never going to happen. I've accepted it, why can't you?"

"Oh Ginny, I just want what's best for you. This…career could get you killed. I can't watch another of my children die."

"It's not a career, it's a calling." She muttered quietly as her mother sat down beside her. "Bill was outmatched. He didn't stand a chance against those things. I know it's dangerous, Mum; I've had to watch my friends get killed and tortured just because we were chosen. None of us want it, but we can't turn our backs on it. We can't just walk away and leave innocent people to pay for our selfishness."

Molly's eyes were glistening. She'd never heard her daughter talk like this before. She'd always assumed that Ginny had never really thought about what being a Slayer really meant. Now she could see that wasn't true. "I'm just scared you'll hurt yourself."

"Me too." Ginny admitted quietly. "In the final stage against Voldemort, there was this slayer- Myleen. She was really nice and we got on really well before. But then this death eater shot a curse at me. I ducked, but Myleen was standing right beside me, she died, because I lived if that makes sense."

Molly nodded. "It does. I know that probably makes you feel guilty, even though you have no reason to. I feel sorry for the girl, and her family- but I'm so glad you ducked, Ginny. If I let you go, then you have to promise me that you'll never stop ducking."

"I promise." Ginny giggled slightly. "We sound pretty stupid right now."

"I don't care." Molly declared. "I'm not going to pretend that I approve of your lifestyle choice, but I'm willing to try and accept it."

"Thank you."

They hugged; the fighting between them seemed to be over, for now at least.

Molly laughed. "I need you Ginny; you're my only escape from all the testosterone that's constantly floating around this house."

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"There done!" Dawn leaned back in her chair feeling pleased with herself. She'd just finished translating a rather tricky ancient Sumerian text into modern English.

The date on Wesley's desk calendar jumped out at her. Oh no, it couldn't be that time already? Where had all the days gone?

She slapped her forehead with her palm. "Shit, shit, shit."

How could she have forgotten? It was gonna take some major work to cover up this latest cock up, she just hoped she could do it in time…

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End Chapter.

_This story is still nameless! If you can think of a name, please email me or leave it in a review. But it will change…at some point._

What do you think? Feed my ego (hint)…or deflate it completely- Please Review (bigger hint).


	2. The Calm

**Thanks to all the reviewers, especially those who've kept reading and reviewing from the first story:**

**TTrunks: **Now here's a name I recognise! Thanks for continuing to R&R.

**Lucky Shamrock:** Wow- lots of reading! I've been thinking of going back and improving the Witches Watcher so the beginning isn't quite so poor. You're right, I'm not very good at thoughts and emotion- I really should work on it! Thanks for R&R.

**Matt:** Hey Matt! Thanks for the review!

**Mist:** Killing Bill was definitely mean, but it _did_ have to be done! Thanks for R&R

**Fan o' Buffy: **It's only 8 months late! Sorry! Thanks for R&R

**Willow Tree Pixie:** I'm glad you think so! Thanks for R&R.

**CHAPTER TWO: CALM**

When Wesley went into his office, he was greeted by the sight of one Dawn Summers talking very quickly into his phone.

"…and I totally forgot his birthday... I know, I ordered his present months ago so it would have arrived in time but he didn't gat a card or a visit or anything. Do you think he'll forgive me?" There was a long pause as whoever was on the other end of the line suggested something. "What all of us? That's a great idea! Thanks Hermione, you're the best!"

"Did you know that Wolfram and Hart's phone bill has nearly doubled with all the transatlantic phone calls you've been making?" Wesley said as she put the phone down.

Dawn snorted. "It's not like they can't afford it. Besides, it was an emergency!"

"Sounded like it." Wes said dryly.

Dawn rolled her eyes and turned back to the script she was supposed to be translating. But although it may have looked like she was working, Dawn was actually planning the perfect outfit to wear for her evening out the next day.

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"It's a good thing we have slayer metabolism or we'd get really fat." Flick commented as she tied the tops of a black bin liner together ready to be collected. The bin bag itself contained no fewer than three Ben 'n Jerry's containers, two bars of Galaxy as well as several empty Honeydukes boxes- and that's just what the three slayers had accumulated over the past three days!

Jade grinned as she came down the stairs. "What? You saying we couldn't kick monster ass if we weighed thirty stone?"

"Maybe- we do rock." Flick said boastfully.

"Damn straight!" The slightly younger slayer laughed, but her mood turned sober when she remembered why she had come down stairs to talk to their unofficial leader. "Skye's still sleeping."

"It's to be expected, she's in recovery." Flick said as she finished her task with the rubbish.

There was silence for a moment as Jaden thought how to best phrase her next comment. "It's taking her longer now."

Flick sighed and sat down on one of the kitchen stools. Skylar's seemingly declining health had been worrying her for a while and it seemed her fears were being confirmed by Jaden's concern. "I know."

Pause.

"She's been injured three times in a week, and we're not just talking little bruises." Felicity said quietly.

"What should we do?" Jade asked, subconsciously trusting her friend to make the decision for all of them.

But Flick didn't want the responsibility. At first it was okay, flattering even, when the less experienced slayers looked to her for leadership and advice. But this was one decision she didn't want to make.

The way Flick saw it, they had two choices. One; pull Skye out of battle against her wishes. They'd tried to persuade her to take a few days off when she'd first got injured, but Skylar had let them know in no uncertain terms that she would not 'sit on the sidelines'. The second option was to let her keep going on patrol and keep an eye on her. As Flick pondered over the possibilities of the latter option, she became dimly aware of someone calling her name.

"Flick?...Felicity!"

"What?" She half snapped, but Jaden didn't notice.

"I said what do we do?"

"I heard you the first time. How do you expect me to know what to do? I'm the muscle not the watcher, it's not my job." Flick vented.

Jaden, who had recoiled at her friend's outburst, tentatively pointed to the phone. "Should we phone Dawn then?"

"Sure. Why not." Flick said with a casualness that made Jaden slightly uneasy. "You do it."

"Umm okay." The younger slayer said as she dialled the familiar number. A voice she didn't recognise answered the phone. "Err hi. Is Dawn there? It's Jade…Jaden Mormon, from England…Oh okay, can you tell her I called? Thanks."

"What'd she say?"

"She's gone out."

Flick snorted. "Typical. She phones every night for weeks and then when we actually need her to call, she doesn't."

"So what should we-" Jaden cut herself off quickly remembering her team mates earlier reaction when she'd asked what they should do next. "So, where do you think Dawn's gone?"

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Hermione Granger stood in Little Whinging Park next to the lake waiting for her friends. It was Dawn's birthday, which coincidentally fell just two days after Harry's, and Ron, Harry, Dawn and herself were going to go to a muggle club as they were all now eighteen.

She looked at her watch again. Ron and Dawn were late, they were planning to surprise Harry and fetch him from Privet Drive…hopefully. Hermione heard a crack to her side and looked round to see Ron also looking around.

"Ron!" She rushed forward and hugged her friend slightly awkwardly. "You look good." She said warmly, surveying his muggle clothes.

"Thanks, so do you." They fell into a silence. "Oh bugger this!" Ron leant forward and kissed Hermione gently on the lips. He closed his eyes and prepared for the slap. Although Hermione and he had been going out at Hogwarts, the letters they had sent over the summer had been short and awkward. Neither of them had ever had any sort of real relationship before and they didn't know how to cope with the long distance thing.

Ron opened his eyes when the slap didn't come and saw Hermione beaming up at him, but before they could say anything, they were interrupted by a scream shortly followed by a splash. It appeared that Dawn had not been totally accurate in her apparating and had fallen twenty feet or so into the lake.

Hermione tried not to laugh as Dawn clambered out of the water, her outfit clinging to her body more than it usually would, but Ron didn't even bother trying. He was practically rolling about on the floor and clutching his sides. Dawn growled in frustration when she realised that it was not only her clothes that had suffered, but also her make-up.

Hermione took pity on her friend and pulled out her wand. A moment later no-one could have known that Dawn had taken an impromptu swim in Little Whinging Lake.

"Right;" Dawn said, happy now that she was all pretty again, "let's go get my boyfriend!"

Hermione rolled her eyes, grabbed Ron's hand and followed Dawn out of the park and into Privet Drive.

"Wow; Stepford Wives, much?" Dawn commented on the identical, perfectly groomed houses and gardens.

"What?"

"Muggle movie reference, Ron." Hermione explained to her befuddled boyfriend.

A minute later they were standing outside Harry's door. Ron looked up to Harry's window; "Harry!" He said in a loud whisper.

"What's he doing?" Dawn asked Hermione.

"Harry told you about his 'family', right? Well, they probably wouldn't let him come out if they knew."

"Okay; but how would they stop him?" Dawn said practically.

"Well, we can't use magic on muggles…" Ron said doubtfully.

"So? I've still got my key magic and regular old muggle force."

"We can't beat them up!" Hermione said aghast.

"Why not? They let their son hurt Harry." Hermione glared at the mystic-artefact-turned-human. Dawn sighed reluctantly. "Okay, fine. I won't lay a finger on them."

Hermione eyed the slayer's sister somewhat doubtfully, but didn't stop her when she knocked on the Dursley's door. Vernon answered it and glared down at the three eighteen year olds in front of him.

"Hi; is Harry there?" Dawn asked sweetly.

The purple man growled a no and went to slam the door, but a magical force stopped him. "Y-you're not allowed to do magic around us."

Dawn shrugged. "Different magic, different laws. Now are you going to let us in?" He didn't budge. "Okay then." Dawn flicked her hand and the door flew open, sending Vernon flying back with the force.

"Dawn!"

"Relax Hermione; I haven't laid a finger on him." Dawn grinned and Hermione knew she was beaten…not that she minded that much; after all, it was the Dursley's.

The commotion brought Harry to the stairs. "Dawn? Ron? Hermione? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, just visiting." Hermione said lamely while Ron just opted for a "Hey mate."

"You coming?" Dawn asked.

"Where?"

"Out, of course."

"You leave this house and you'll never come back, boy." Vernon growled.

"Ooh! You can stay with me in LA!" Dawn offered excitedly.

"Are you sure?" Harry asked, barely daring to hope.

"Yea- there's loads of room…as long as you don't mind staying at an evil law firm."

Harry grinned widely. "Not at all."

Vernon watched the whole debacle open mouthed. "He's not going anywhere."

"Watch me."

And he did. He watched as the 'magic using freak' gave the boy a kiss and then he ran upstairs and returned with a tiny chest which Harry fit in his pocket. And he watched as they let that ruddy owl out and told it to go to LA. And then he watched as they all walked out the sorry looking door.

Petunia entered the house not five minutes after they had gone. "Where's the boy dear, he needs to get started on Dudley's dinner."

Vernon, doing a very good impression of a gold fish, opened and closed his mouth a few times before saying. "He's gone." Then it appeared to really sink in and he jumped up in delight. "He's gone! HE'S GONE!"

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"ID." The bouncer ordered for the hundredth time that night.

The four teens handed over their identification and were accepted into the club. Ron and Harry looked around in amazement. They had never seen a muggle night club before and the Three Broomsticks doesn't really compare to the flashing lights and blaring music of 'The Event: 5'.

The group ordered drinks, but soon found themselves on the dance floor (After Ron and Harry saw how badly various other people were dancing, they followed their girlfriends willingly onto the dance floor).

"Are you having fun?" Dawn shouted to Harry over the music.

Harry nodded. "Beats a night at home with the Dursley's!"

The group proceeded to dance the night away. They were having so much fun that they didn't realise someone was watching them from the shadows.

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"Dawn!" Harry tried to shout over the music, but it was too loud. Instead he tapped his girlfriends shoulder and mimicked the universal getting a drink motion. Dawn nodded and followed him over to the bar; but they didn't get that far.

As they were walking, a door marked 'Staff Only' swung open and Harry and Dawn were pulled through. Harry was greeted by a sight that he thought, and hoped, he'd never see again; Crabbe and Goyle.

The two goons had lowered themselves to wearing muggle clothing, but they had kept it black like the death eater robes.

"You will pay for destroying our master, Potter. You'll come with us now." Crabbe, or possibly Goyle, hissed.

Harry was astonished. "You spoke!" He gasped. "I've never heard either of you speak before, unless grunting counts, does grunting count?"

"Nope." Dawn confirmed, trying not to laugh at the lost looking minions.

One of them, not the one who had spoken before, managed to pull himself together. "You killed the Dark Lord- you deserve to die!"

"I deserve to die for that? What did I deserve to die for before? You know, all those times Voldemort tried to kill me."

"You dare speak his name."

"He's dead! Gone! Caput! And yet you're still afraid of him."

The wannabe-evil duo decided that it was time for this to end and raised their wands, apparently forgetting their run in with the DA whom Harry had tutored. Three seconds later Crabbe and Goyle were looking confused as Harry held their wands grinning madly.

"Pertrificus Totalus!" Both goons fell to the floor and Harry grabbed Dawn's arm. "Come on- there may be more, we've got to get out of here."

Dawn followed him to get Ron and Hermione and they all left quickly.

"We should probably all go home…even though it sounds like that was the lamest attempted kidnap ever." Hermione said once they were outside and she had finished fussing over Harry.

"Yeah." Harry sighed. "I better go crawling back to the Dursley's."

"No way! I said you could stay with me in LA and I meant it." Dawn protested.

"But what about my protection wards and spells?"

"What about it? Voldemort's gone! Besides, you'll have two good vampires and their powerful law firm looking out for you. Besides; I'll look after you."

"I bet you will." Ron muttered, which got him a slap round the head from Hermione who had overheard.

"Are you sure? Really sure?"

"Really, really, really sure. It'll be fun!" Dawn hugged her boyfriend.

"How are you going to get there?" Hermione: always the voice of reason.

"Ooh! I could apperate us!"

"NO!" Ron and Hermione protested in unison. "We'd like to have Harry back at the end of the holidays."

"She can't be that bad!"

"Oh, she is- Dawn, show him your wrist."

Dawn reluctantly twisted her wrist round…completely around, as in three-hundred-and-sixty degrees around.

Harry gasped. "How'd you do that?"

Dawn offered him a smile. "Um, nasty apperating accident? It's not that big of a deal- I had this friend who was double jointed and could twist his thumb around."

"Merlin knows how she got her licence!" Ron said.

"Easily!" Dawn proclaimed. "I took it in Cleveland and I just had to get to the shopping mall and back! I'd had lots of practice at getting there…_lots_ of practice!"

"Back to the point- how am I going to get to LA?"

"I can open a portal. What Buffy doesn't know, can't hurt me."

Hermione nodded. "I think that might be safer." She said wisely, earning her a glare from Dawn.

"Right, let's go!" Dawn said, already starting to open the portal. Harry looked through and saw the mid afternoon sunshine of Las Angeles. "We'll end up just behind Evil Inc."

"Evil Inc?" Hermione questioned,

"Wolfram and Hart." Dawn clarified.

Hermione looked alarmed. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"I'll be fine- Dawn's been there loads of times and nothings happened to her."

Hermione sighed. "Fine- but you look after him." She told Dawn seriously.

"I will, I promise."

"Right let's get out of here!" Harry said. He turned an raised his hand in a wave "I'll send Hedwig when I get there. See you soon, bye!" He followed Dawn through the portal and watched as she closed it on England.

"Okay; I just need to check that it's alright with Angel if you stay here."

"You said it would be fine!"

"Oh it will be..." Dawn assured him; "…probably. You might want to avoid Spike, though."

Harry looked alarmed. He pulled a memory from last year when Dawn had told him that Spike might kill him for dating her, but he couldn't while the world needed him to destroy Voldemort. But Voldemort was gone now… "He's gonna kill me!"

"Don't be silly Harry. Spike doesn't kill humans anymore."

Strangely enough Harry didn't find that very comforting.

"Oh and Harry, don't mention the thing with Crabbe and Goyle to Angel."

"Why not?"

"He tends to…overreact to stuff like that." Dawn said, picking her words very carefully. "It's best not to worry him, besides it's not like we can't defend ourselves against those goons." She reasoned.

"Okay, that's fair. Hey, thanks for coming tonight. It meant a lot."

Dawn smiled. "Of course I came. Always assume from now on that I'll come."

"Still, thank you."

"You're welcome. Come on, let's get this over with."

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"But Angel;" Dawn whined, "they want to kill him and you guys are supposed to stop that, remember, help the helpless."

"I don't know, Dawn."

"Please!"

Harry grinned from where he was 'accidentally overhearing' Dawn's conversation with Angel. They had arrived in LA not ten minutes ago and she had already got one of the lower members of the company to fix him up a room and was currently wearing Angel down.

"Buffy wouldn't like this." Harry heard Angel protest.

"Neither would Spike." Dawn pointed out, and it was then Harry knew they had won.

He turned away from the door and punched the air with his fist. But his celebration was short lived as Harry saw something more scary than Voldemort walking down the halls- it was Dawn's pseudo big brother, Spike.

'Bugger.'

Harry looked around for somewhere to hide, but the only thing near him was Angel's office where Dawn was still trying to persuade the vampire to let him stay.

'Double bugger.'

"Hey kid." Spike didn't really seem to take in Harry's appearance at Wolfram and Hart and Harry sighed with relief…but it was short lived.

Spike had barely got five steps away before he stopped and back tracked.

'Triple bugger.'

"Err, hi Spike." Harry tried, but that caused to anger the vampire further.

Spike growled, his eyes flashing yellow, and Harry could practically hear his brain working: 'Can't kill humans, can't kill humans…' Spike grabbed Harry and hauled him into Angel's office, none too gently.

"What's that doing here!" He yelled, pushing Harry forward with such force that the wizard fell into Angel's desk.

Dawn put on her most innocent smile. "Spike; is something wrong?"

"Of course something's bloody wrong! What is this, this, _ponce_, doing here!"

Angel couldn't help but grin at Spike's agitation. "He's staying at Wolfram and Hart until the end of the summer."

Dawn squeaked, but Spike wasn't so happy. "Like hell he is!"

"I have a reason to believe his life is in danger." Angel said calmly. "Well; more so than it is here…probably. Anyway, it's my office and I can do what I want!"

Dawn and Harry tried not to laugh at the two hundred year old vampire acting like a spoiled ten year old. "Thanks Angel."

"No problem; I'll get a room set up."

"Don't worry," Dawn smiled; "already taken care of."

Dawn led Harry out of the room, leaving the two vampires spluttering behind them.

"Why'd you agree to let him stay?" Spike asked once Harry and Dawn had gone.

"I have no idea." Angel admitted.

"Poofter."

"Don't call me that."

"Call you what, poofter?"

"Spike!"

"Okay, okay…poofter."

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Please review!


	3. The Storm

hangs head in shame Well, it really has been a long time. And I'm soooooo sorry, but I can't even promise the next one will be much quicker. It'll be posted when it's done, whenever that may be. **_Thank you for everyone who reviewed_** and especially to a certain emailer who gave me a good old kick up the proverbial and got me to write this chapter!

**CHAPTER THREE: THE STORM**

The first morning, much to Angel and Spike's surprise, went without hitch. That was probably because Harry had magical jet lag and slept until two, but still…

Although Harry awoke at two, he didn't surface from his room until three thirty and, for once, the muggle clothes he was wearing actually fit him! He wandered the corridors of Wolfram and Hart looking for someone he knew, but within twenty minutes he could freely admit that he was totally and utterly lost.

Harry continued walking, past what looked like an overgrown house elf which made him grip his wand firmly, but he was under strict instruction by Dawn and Angel not to attack anything unless it attacked him first. The next demon he passed was a lime green one talking on a mobile.

"Lorne?" Harry called a bit tentatively.

The demon beamed at him. "Listen hot stuff, I'll have to call you back- but we'll definitely work something out, toodles! Hey sweetcheeks, how's it going?"

It took Harry a moment to realize that Lorne was talking to him. "Oh, em, fine, thanks. Do you know where Dawn is?"

"The little bit? She's working in the book room with Angelcakes I think, excuse me," Lorne gestured further down the hall as his tiny mobile phone started ringing obnoxiously. "Talk to me! No, no, no. I said no piñatas!" He said into the phone.

Harry was left standing alone in the corridor; Lone had gone before he could get directions. Harry shrugged and headed in the direction Lorne had pointed out. If he kept going, he would probably find the 'book room' sooner or later.

Luck had been on Harry's side that day as before he got completely lost in the maze of corridors that was Wolfram and Hart, he'd come across Wesley who was also going to the 'book room'. Well, he called it a library but it was all the same thing really.

They heard Dawn's raised voice before they'd entered the library.

"No way!"

Her exclamation was followed by a second persons muffled speaking.

"No, Angel! I won't be kept locked up for the rest of the summer!"

More muffled speaking.

"I don't care!"

It was then Wesley decided to make his presence known. "Is everything ok?"

"Fine." Dawn said shortly, glaring at Angel.

"What's wrong?" Harry demanded.

"Someone tried to take a hit out on Dawn." Angel revealed. "They obviously didn't do their research very well and asked Wolfram and Hart to organise it."

Harry tried to catch Dawn's eye, but she was steadily glaring at Angel. "Who?"

"We don't know. They used the English branch and they've picked now to stick to the confidentiality rules so it could be anyone."

"Anyone in England, a whole continent away." Dawn said firmly. "There's no reason to think that anyone even knows I'm in LA."

"There's still someone trying to kill you." Angel persisted.

Dawn shrugged. "So what else is new?"

"I didn't want to have to resort to this, but Dawn, you're grounded." Angel said leaning back in the black leather chair he was sitting in and folding his arms across his chest.

"What!" Dawn shrieked. "You can't do that!"

"I can. I'll tell the guards not to let you out under any circumstances and put a lock on your magic if I have to. It's for your own good, Dawn." Angel said softly but with an edge in his voice that let Dawn know there was no wriggle room in his mind.

Dawn whipped round to face Harry. "Why aren't you sticking up for me?"

Harry shifted uncomfortably. "I agree with Angel."

"You are kidding me?" Dawn said, her voice taking a dangerously low note. "Your life's in danger just as much as mine is-"

"Don't turn this on me!" Harry and Dawn became so involved in their argument that they forgot about everyone else in the room.

"Oh of course the great Harry Potter is far too superior to everyone else to even worry about little things like his safety!"

"What about you, little miss superhero? You think you're so powerful that no-one can touch you, you don't even think about what I'd do if anything ever happened to you!"

"Nothing's going to happen to me- I'm not helpless!" Their voices were getting louder and louder.

"Yeah, try telling that to someone who hasn't watched you die!"

Whatever response Dawn was about to make, most likely another argument about how she could handle herself, was cut off by a tentative knocking on the office door.

Dawn turned her back on her glaring boyfriend and flounced over to the other side of the room as Wes opened the office door.

Jade practically ran into the room followed by Flick. "Heya Dawn."

Dawn sat up straighter, worry lines creasing her forehead. "What's wrong?"

There seemed to be some silent communication between the two before Flick spoke up. "Can you come back with us?"

"To England?"

"No." Harry blurted out.

"Harry-"

"You're not going."

"What's going on?" Flick asked confused.

"Nothing- it's not fully resolved."

"Like hell it's not." Harry growled.

"We are not doing this now!" Dawn almost shouted, stunning the whole room into silence. It was then that things got too much for her and she ran out the room.

Flick shot a questioning glance at the remaining people in the room, most notably the stony faced Harry, before running after her friend.

Harry, still with a face like thunder, stormed out of the library, slamming the door behind him.

Jaden let out a low whistle. "When did they turn into a bitter married couple?"

Angel shrugged. "They have issues. Thank God I've never acted like that."

"Oh please, I was only in Sunnydale for six months or so and even I saw how you and Buffy over-dramatised _everything_. They're just like the two of you were." Wes snorted, much to Angel's irritation.

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It didn't take Flick long to catch up with Dawn, even with the head start she'd had.

"Sorry about that." Dawn said sheepishly.

Flick shrugged it off. "What was it all about?"

"Just a minor disagreement. Why are you guys here, not that it's not great to see you…"

Flick sighed. "It's Skye. She's getting hurt, like, a lot. We tried to call but you were out so Jade thought we should just drop round."

Dawn nodded slowly. "So should we pull her out?"

"She doesn't want that."

"But if that's what's best for her…" It was at that moment Dawn understood why Angel had grounded her. Not that she thought he was right, she just saw his point. He was still being a pillock (thanks, Spike!). "How is she on one-on-one attacks?"

Flick thought back. "Fine. Mainly it's only when it's three or four to one she has problems."

"Could you cope without her?"

Flick nodded, feeling guilty for betraying her friend. "We always take portkeys out so we can get away if necessary."

"What about putting her on restricted duties?"

"Which are what?"

"Something Giles told one of the new watchers to put his slayer on." Dawn replied. "How about training only for a week until she's at full strength and then she has to promise to get out of the battle zone quicker when she starts feeling outmatched."

"She won't like it." Flick warned.

"Giles is in England at the moment, I'll ask him to keep an eye on her."

"You're not coming back then." Flick said somewhat disappointed.

"What you walked in on earlier, that was a result of Angel grounding me. Someone wants me less than living so he decided that it would be safer for me to spend the summer within the Wolfram and Hart's grounds. It's not as if this is the safest place in the world." Dawn muttered, still not happy about it.

Flick wisely stayed quiet and changed the subject. "We better be going. We didn't exactly tell Skye where we were going so…"

"You wanna be back before she realises you skipped the country? I'll call tonight." Dawn promised.

"And talk to Skye?"

Dawn nodded. "So kill anything good lately?"

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"Hey Wes."

"Hi Dawn." Wes replied. "Angel was worried you might do something stupid."

"Like what? Step outside into the big bad world and get killed?"

Wes smirked slightly. "Something like that. Have Felicity and Jaden left?"

"Yeah." Dawn sighed.

Wes rolled his eyes. Over the time he'd had to know Dawn he'd realised that sometimes getting information out of her was like getting blood from a stone. "What did they want?"

She didn't speak for a moment. "Skye's getting hurt. She can't hack it."

"Ah, I see."

"That's it? Don't you have any sage words of wisdom to impart or anything?"

"Stop her from patrolling?" Wes suggested.

"I don't think I could. Urgg, Giles never had this problem!"

"What's that got to do with anything?" Wes questioned.

"Okay, I have no idea what I'm doing here. At first it was easy I just copied whatever you and Giles did or did the opposite if it didn't work. But now…"

"They have their own problems?" Wes finished.

"Right."

"Trust yourself, Dawn. You've been trained for this, you know what to do. You're older and more experienced than they are. You've been around slayers for years, but they're still coming to terms with it. Put yourself in their shoes and fix their problems."

"Could you get any more clichéd?" Dawn muttered.

"You wanted sage words of wisdom." The older watcher retorted.

Dawn ignored his comment. "Should I phone Skye?"

Wes' answer was to push the phone towards her and offer an encouraging smile before he left.

Dawn took a deep breath and picked up the phone. "Hey Skye? It's Dawn…I'm good thanks. Listen, I saw the other guys today and- no, they were just worried…I think they're right. Sorry Skye, but you're not going out for a few days."

Dawn held the receiver away from her ear as an angry slayer started shouting down it. Oh yeah, Skylar was definitely not happy. She was just glad there was an ocean separating them.

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Dawn hesitated before knocking on Harry's door. Her phone call to Skye hadn't gone very well. Skye had hung up and was now refusing to talk to anyone. She didn't want to be not talking to Harry.

She rapped sharply twice on the door. There was no answer. "Harry?"

The moment she spoke there was a rustling from behind the door. "One minute."

When the door opened to reveal a weary looking Harry, complete with bed hair and squiffy glasses, but it was the fact that he was still in his nightwear which consisted of a pair of tracksuit bottoms that really caught her attention. She smiled nervously. "Sorry, did I wake you?"

"What do you want, Dawn?" He asked tiredly. "'Cause I'm really not in the mood for another slanging match."

She kicked an invisible spot on the floor with her foot. "Neither am I." She raised her eyes to his. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to have a go at you, I was just mad at Angel."

Harry grinned slightly. "I got that." He moved away from the doorframe allowing her to enter the room. "Angel came and spoke to me this afternoon. It looks like we're going to be spending a lot of time together, inside Wolfram and Hart of course."

Dawn laughed. "He got you too, huh?"

"He said we better be safe than sorry." Harry pouted.

Dawn grinned. "At least we have each other. To be honest the only time I have gone out since I got here was when Angel let me help out with whatever baddie was about. And now you're here I can think of better things to do." Dawn bit her lip nervously. The only time they had been intimate was with the threat of almost certain death over their heads and now that had been removed, for the moment anyway; Dawn couldn't be sure how he felt.

All the blood in Harry's head moved south at his girlfriends thinly veiled suggestion. He suddenly felt a lot less tired as he captured her lips with his and pushed her gently back to the bed.

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"_Ohhhhhh_ pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and smile, smile, smile, tee hee hee. While there's a lucifer to light your fag, tee hee hee."

That was just some of the nonsense coming from the platinum blond vampire as he staggered up the corridors of Wolfram and Hart.

Angel suddenly appeared from nowhere, in that way that he does. "Spike, you're drunk!"

"No, no, I'm not." The blond vampire slurred loudly. "Really- I swear to drunk I'm not God!"

Angel raised one eyebrow. "Yes, very convincing."

"Ah bugger it. I am drunk. And you, poofter, are very _veeery_ stupid, but at least I'll be sober in the morning."

Angel wasn't listening. He sniffed the air. "They wouldn't." He muttered.

"Who wouldn't what?"

Angel looked mildly irritated at his childe. He drew back his hand and punched Spike, not very hard but it had the desired effect.

"Bloody 'ell, Peaches! That- Do I smell sex?"

Angel nodded grimly.

"Isn't that wand boy's room?"

Another nod.

"I'll kill 'im!"

With that Spike rushed forward and threw the door open…and stopped dead in his tracks.

The room looked like a bomb had hit it. The bedside cabinet had been upturned and the glass of water that once stood on it shattered over the carpet. The little plastic bottles that had been standing on the dresser were scattered over the floor along with the bed sheets and feathers from one of the pillows which had apparently burst. There was a large blood stain on another of the pillows and a crimson handprint was dragged down one of the walls. A trail of blood led over to the door where Spike was standing aghast.

Dawn and Harry were gone.

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Dum dum dummmmmm!

Please review and Merry Christmas!


	4. Just Another Manic Tuesday

**CHAPTER FOUR: JUST ANOTHER MANIC TUESDAY**

"Hey Skye!" Jaden said brightly.

She received a sour glare from the slayer.

"Come on Skye, you know we had to say something."

"No you didn't." Skylar said quietly. "You could have been my friend and trusted me when I said I could handle it."

Jaden shrugged slightly. "I'm sorry, we were worried about you. You need to get back to full strength before you go back out there."

"What did you come up with that on your little trip to America?" Skye sneered. "You sound just like _her_."

"We're worried about you Skye!" Jaden said, desperately trying to make her friend see why they pulled her from active duty.

"Did I ask for you to be?"

"We're your friends!"

Skye snorted and headed out of the kitchen. "Yeah, whatever."

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"Niblet? Dawn?" Spike frantically ran into the en suite, desperately hoping to see Dawn in their giggling at how he had fallen for her trick.

"Spike, she's not here." Angel said quietly.

"How do you know that? You have to help me look for her!"

"Spike!"

That tone had always stopped him in his tracks when he was a fledgling, and, over a century later, it still had the same effect.

"We've got to find out who's taken her and why. And Harry. Try not to worry; she can take care of herself."

"Oh yeah? Remember two months ago when she took care of herself and died? I've gotta find her." Spike panicked.

Angel spun round, grabbed Spike by the neck and slammed him against the wall. "You'll make things worse."

"I have to do something. I'm not like you!" Spike yelled.

"You're not the only one who cares about her." Angel growled, yellow flashing in his eyes for a moment before he let his childe go.

Spike held his gaze for a moment. "Fine. But if anyone lays one ruddy finger on her, then I'll kill 'em."

"Not if I get them first." Angel said, deadly serious. "We better wake the others."

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Ten minutes later, the team had been woken and filled in on what little they knew- that Dawn and Harry had been kidnapped.

Fred was examining the 'crime scene'. She'd taken samples of the blood, despite Angel's assurance that the blood on the pillow was Dawn's and the rest was all Harry's. Now she was taking pictures of every aspect of the room for reasons Spike didn't understand.

"Whoever it was knew enough to break Harry's wand." Fred summarised when she'd finished taking pictures.

Spike turned to look at her. "That's it? After all that you only know that someone broke the brat's wand?"

A slightly hurt look crossed Fred's features. "We know for sure that whoever it was knew about the wizarding world so-"

"That narrows it down to about a million." Angel finished dejectedly.

"I think the first thing we should do is to put some pressure on the English branch." Wes suggested.

"Why?"

"Well isn't it a remarkable coincidence that a hit is commissioned on Dawn and then she's kidnapped in the same twenty four hours. Gunn-"

"On it." The lawyer strode out of the room to bang some British heads together, figuratively speaking, of course.

"Spike and I will…talk to security." Angel offered.

"You and Spike?" Wesley repeated dubiously. "Are you sure that's wise, we are working against the clock after all."

"We'll behave, watcher." Spike promised as he and Angel went to 'talk' to security.

"Are we going to tell the police?" Fred asked.

Wes inwardly winced. "I don't think so. Fred, could you get a team from the lab of trusted workers to comb this place from top to bottom."

"Trusted?" Fred replied sceptically. This was Wolfram and Hart after all.

"Well, as trusted as we can get. I don't think you'll find anything of use, but it's worth a shot. If anyone can do it, you can." He added fondly.

She blushed and nodded. Anything was worth a shot. "What about you?"

"I'm going to recruit some help."

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"I didn't see anything, I swear!"

"Wrong answer." Spike growled as he lunged forward ready to punch the security guard.

Angel stood back and watched grimly.

"No-one came through this door!" The guard tried.

Angel grabbed Spike's arm as he pulled it back to hit the guard again.

"Is there CCTV in that corridor?"

The guard nodded, wiping the blood from his split lip.

"Get it." He ordered and the guard immediately ran off.

"Why did you stop me? He was on the verge of telling us something!" Spike hissed when the guard was out of ear shot.

"You know as well as I do that he wasn't lying when he said he didn't know anything."

"But-"

"Shh, he's coming back."

The guard returned with two tapes. "That one's from nine 'till twelve and the other one's from twelve onwards."

"Thanks. Let's take these to my office to look at them."

Spike bit his tongue to stop the automatic barb that came to him. They didn't have time to argue.

When Angel entered his office, he found the rest of his group was already there- plus two.

"Faith?" "Whelp?" He and Spike said simultaneously.

"Nice to see you too Spike." Xander muttered.

"Nice set up you got yourself here." Faith commented.

"I get by. Did Wes fill you in?"

"B junior and her honey got kidnapped by god knows who and Wesley decided it couldn't wait until after sunrise to call us in." Faith glared at her former watcher.

"I thought we could use the help." Wes said with a shrug. "Did you find out anything from the security guard?"

"No, but we have the tapes from the corridor outside Harry's room." Angel inserted the first tape into the VCR and pressed play.

"It all seems pretty normal." Xander commented.

"Dawn wasn't there yet." Angel muttered as he set the tape to fast forward.

The group sat in silence, all eyes on the tape.

"There." Faith said, but Angel's sharp reflexes had already pressed play as video-Dawn knocked twice on the door.

Spike glared at screen-Harry who had just answered the door a little too undressed for his liking.

"Sorry did I wake you?" Came Dawn's muffled voice though the speakers.

"No, I always walk about topless and with bed hair." Xander snorted, only to be shushed by Faith.

"What do you want Dawn? 'Cause I'm really not in the mood for another slanging match."

"Neither am I." She raised her eyes to his. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to have a go at you, I was just mad at Angel."

"Nice one poofter. You practically drove her to him!" Angel glared at Spike.

Harry grinned slightly. "I got that." He moved aside and they both went into his room, shutting the door behind them.

Spike growled.

Faith grinned impressed. "Way to go D."

Xander glared at Faith. "You do realise that that's my little sister, don't you?"

"Right." Faith adopted a stern expression. "Bad Dawn making with the naughty. Better?"

"Much. Thank you."

"So," Angel said, drawing their attention back to the matter at hand. "That tells us nothing."

He fast forwarded the tape again. It reached the end without there being anything suspicious so he put in the second one. They weren't more than five minutes in when Fred spoke out.

"Replay that bit."

Angel did so, but saw nothing.

"That's when they were taken."

"What? How did you work that out?"

"Look at the crack under the door. Now, look, you can see a shimmer in the air there, consistent with apperating."

"Huh?"

"When Dawn got her apperating licence, I did some research. The only visual sign of apperating is a slight disturbance in the air, it kinda looks like a shimmer in the air."

"That's great an' all, but huh? What's apperating?" Xander asked confused.

"Teleporting." Angel said absently. He squinted at the video footage, there was only the slightest disturbance- he wouldn't have noticed it if the willowy scientist hadn't pointed it out. "Fred, are you sure?"

"Absolutely. There's two periods of the disturbance- one for the entrance and one for their exit."

"And they're after midnight, right?"

Fred shot Xander a slightly puzzled look. "Yes."

"I knew it, pay up."

As Faith shoved her hand deep into her pocket, Angel said what they were all thinking: "huh?"

"I bet Faith $10 that it would be after midnight when Dawn got in trouble." He said as an explanation. Seeing that the people around him still didn't get it, he tried to explain further. "Okay, if it's after midnight then it's the next day and today is…"

"Tuesday."

"Exactly." Xander smirked.

"What's that, wait, never mind. I don't want to know. Where were we?" Angel said in an attempt to get the meeting back on track.

But Spike had other ideas. "You bet on when Niblet got nabbed? She could be lying dead in a ditch somewhere and you're making money off it? Don't you care?"

Xander glared at him. "Of course I do and you know it. We'll find her Spike, we always do. Summers girls' are tough. Besides, if they were gonna dump her in a ditch then why go to all the trouble of kidnapping her? They want her for something and that gives us time."

"So," Angel interrupted Spike's response in a loud voice, "now we have a time. Next we need a 'who'."

"Who wants Dawn or Harry dead?"

"Well, there must be any number of demons who want to get back at Buff." Xander suggested.

"I don't think so, this is a magical attack."

"So does that means they were probably after Harry? It _was_ his room, and from what I gathered earlier in the summer he has quite a few enemies in the followers of Voldy-wotsit." Xander reasoned, pushing down his anxiety for Dawn as only a seasoned expert of the key's various kidnappings could.

"Voldemort." Angel offered. "And it's possible- we should look into it."

"I knew the little brat was bad news." Spike muttered, but he was ignored.

"Something tells me this is gonna be a tough one- we're gonna need all the help we can get."

"You want me to rile up the slaygals?" Faith offered, slamming her fist into her hand.

"Best wait until we have something concrete for them to start hitting. We could use some help from the Watchers though…and I guess I should call Buffy." Angel visibly winced as he thought about what the petite slayer would do to him when she found out he'd lost her sister.

Spike snorted. "Scared of a little slayer peaches?"

"Definitely- I can think of hundreds of reasons to justify it and the first fifty all start with 'Buffy will hit me with a...'"

Faith smirked. "Lil' B might be okay - Dawnie's meant to be wicked powerful right? Who's to say she's not already back in bed snuggling with her honey?"

Xander groaned, forcing back the bad images that that brought to his head. "Faith…"

"She doesn't have full control of her powers yet." Wesley said quietly. "And if she is being detained by wizards, then they can block her magic. You remember what happened last year."

She nodded, flashing back to the mad dash out of a death eater battle zone with an unconscious and bleeding Dawn slung over her shoulder.

Angel slammed his fist down on the desk. "I'm not going to sit around here and wait for her to be killed. Wes, come on."

Wesley eyed him warily. "Where are we going?"

"To find that shaman guy- Pancreas."

Wesley sighed and rose from his seat, following Angel out of the room. "You mean Pancreal."

Spike nodded. "That better, like, a bit more action. No use sitting on our asses all night. Peaches wait up!"

"I better see if the tests are back from the lab yet." Fred said as she left also.

"And I'll get in touch with come wizards- see if they know anything."

"I'll go with you, phone the watchers council." Faith said as she and Gunn left.

Xander looked around, realising that he was the only one left in the room. "Oh great, I guess that means I'll call Buffy then." He shouted to the empty office. "Cowards!"

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**A/N: For anyone interested in BtVS/ HP talk, there is now a forum to go along with the C2 category 'The BtVS/ HP Crossover Zone'. You don't have to be a member of the C2 to use it so drop by and check it out.**


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